SEATOA’S 2016 Annual Conference, onMarch 14^th & 15^th, was our first in Florida and we welcomed many new Florida participants.   Held at the beautiful Marriott Renaissance World Golf Resort in St. Augustine, attendees participated in pre-conference pocket option in-depth training sessions on “The Internet of Things” and “Covering the 2016 Elections”.   These sessions were followed by two days full of educational workshops on community broadband and community programming topics which received rave reviews from our attendees. 

Keynote luncheon speakers included Clint Odom, from U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s (D-FL) Office and staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, who provided an update on activities in Washington; and Andrew Hayes, USDA Rural Utilities’ Service Telecom Field Representative for Florida & Georgia, who provided an update on RUS and Rural Development Programs funding opportunities .

Special thanks go out to the NATOA Executive Director and Board members who participated and all our terrific sponsors.

 “Keep Savannah On Your Mind”

SEATOA's 14th Annual Broadband & P-E-G Conference was held in the heart of Savannah, pocket option deposit bonus Georgia’s historic district – at the beautiful Hilton Savannah DeSoto Hotel – on March 30-31, 2015.

Around 110 attended this – our first Conference to be held in the great state of Georgia – and we were happy to welcome a large contingent of “first time” Georgia participants. 

New to this year’s conference were our pre-conference sessions: 

“Community Broadband Tool Kit”

“Copyright & Licensing For Peg Programming”

These well-attended sessions provided 2½ hours of in-depth training for participants.  SEATOA plans to continue this at future conferences – and we hope that our members will provide us topic ideas for these future “in-depth training” sessions .

The full agenda of conference workshops was designed to assist communities in developing community networks and community P-E-G operations.  These sessions featured the experiences and expertise of communities that are currently involved in running their own networks and/or producing P-E-G programming.  

Keynote Speakers

We would like to thank our Keynote Speakers who were available after their speeches to respond to attendee questions.  They both did an excellent job!

Monday’s Opening Session Luncheon Keynote address included an update on FCC activities by FCC Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn. 

Tuesday’s Luncheon Keynote speaker was Michael J. Copps, Special Adviser for Media & Democracy Reform Initiative, Common Cause & Former FCC Commissioner, who addressed local media and programming issues.

Conference Workshops

Community Programming / P-E-G Channels conference workshops topics included:  Nuts & Bolts/Best Practices; Building Partnerships; Alternative Distribution Methods for Programming; Promotion & Marketing; The CAP Act.  And Community Broadband topics Included:  Educational Initiatives; Financing Options; Lessons Learned - Successes/Failures; Exploring the Range of Business Models.  We, also, featured a NATOA, PCIA & CTIA Wireless Associations-sponsored session on FCC changes in local government’s right-of-way management authority.  We would like to thank all our speaker-panelists and moderators who contributed their time and effort to making their sessions so informative.  

SEATOA Exhibit Hall was bustling through the entire 2-day conference.   We appreciate their support and participation and encourage our members to consider them when making their researching and purchasing decisions.

Over 25% of conference attendees submitted evaluation forms – which complimented this year’s conference as being one of SEATOA “best-ever”.  SEATOA would like to give special thanks to our outstanding Conference Planning Committee – including in particular Chairman Wayne Nix, City of Savannah; Lewis Foster, Columbia County, GA; Kyle Hollifield, Magellan-Advisors; and John Rocco, CMPAC – for their successful efforts in pulling our 2015 event together.